3.2 Conditions for School Success and The School's Readiness
The Canadian Association of School Administrators (Shannon & McCall, 1996) developed a statement of the conditions that are necessary for school success. These conditions counter-balance the many goal statements that have been published about what students need to learn or that descrive the required learning outcomes.After all, students don not learn in a vacum.
These standards have been applied to the issue of school readiness. The basic condition, that which applies to all students, comes first in this series of statements. The points that follow each of the condition applies that requirement to the issue of school readiness and student readiness to learn.
Th e References cited here can be found at this site.
| 1. A shared understanding needs to exist about the purpose of schooling and achievable outcomes for students, the school system, other agencies and the community. These understandings should be clearly expressed in goal statements by governments, school boards, other agencies, and professional associations. A commitment to continuous improvement must also be shared among all the partners in the educational process. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
The latest research on early child development and learning needs to be applied systematically to transform the Kindergarten to Grade Three experience for children.
These changes include, (NCREL, n.d.)
* · more emphasis on social development
* · less use of grade retention
* · a sense of community within the school
* · planned and implemented transition processes from pre-school to kindergarten
* · effective student grouping patterns.
Kindergarten must continue to be viewed as a transitional year in which children acquire the social skills and routines for schooling. It shouldn't be considered as academic participation (SREB,1994)
| 2. All sectors of the community need to be involved in decisions, including students, parents, teachers, support personnel, school principals, school district administrators, school trustees, health and social service agencies, voluntary organizations, employers, unions, education ministries, other ministries, professions, and the federal government. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
A 1992 US Department of Education (SREB 1994) report found that only 10% of schools had a provision for systematic communication between school teachers and pre-school teachers. A 1995 study on interagency co-operation done by the Canadian Association of School Administrators (1995) found that only 29.6% of school districts had a written agreement with local pre-school/daycare agencies.
* · School district and school based administrators need to provide support and encouragement for change.(SREB,1994)
| 3. The conditions within the school must support learning. This includes basic physical conditions such as adequate space, equipment, technology, gymnasium, support staff, playgrounds and laboratories. It also includes a psychosocial climate that values learning and respect for others. It also recognizes that employees in schools need to value their workplace as productive and healthy. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* - The physical environment of the classroom and outdoor settings should provide opportunity for young children to explore. Indoor environments can be subdivided into learning areas. Room arrangements should reflect these goals. Children need space outdoors for play, social interactions and exploration(NCRELn.d)
* · Young children benefit most from a consistent daily schedule that helps them feel secure.(NCREL,nd)
| 4. The goals and outcomes established for student achievement must be clearly expressed in realistic terms. Realistic expectations for individual students can be established by direct communications among the student, parents, and the teacher. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · The failures that young children experience because of unrealistic expectations in kindergarten and primary grades will have lasting effects. Developmentally appropriate goals must be established for these young students. (SREB,1994)
* · School entry age changes can raise or lower the average developmental level of the children but does nothing to reduce the range of abilities. (SREB,1994)
* · Formal written policies on the transitions from pre-school to kindergarten and within the primary grades should be established by school boards and education ministries.(SREB,1994)
* · Local schools should be able to use funding in a flexible manner to meet their specific goals.(SREB,19943)
| 5. The students should benefit from a reasonable variety of school organizational models as well as teaching methods based on educational research and sound professional judgment. These organiz- ational and teaching strategies should optimize the match between student learning styles and the teaching capacities of the school staff. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · Children aged three to eight acquire knowledge and skills in ways that are significantly different from older children. (NAESP, 1990)
* · one approach to easing transitions and difficulties caused by varying developmental levels is multi-age grouping of students.(SREB,1994)
* · another approach is to group the primary classes together in the school to facilitate communication.
* · segregated transition classes are also an inappropriate response (Katz, 1991)
| 6. The barriers to learning should be identified as soon as possible for all students as well as on an individual student basis. Action plans to address those barriers should be developed collaboratively. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · Exclusion by delaying the child's entry into school, and retention requiring children to repeat an entire grade are simplistic and one sided responses to a complicated problem.(SREB,1994) Research indicates that these strategies are ineffective.
* · One on one tutoring has proven to be the most effective remedial strategy. (Slavin 1993,et al.)
| 7. There should be regular assessments of students' progress using a variety of instruments including teacher-made and curriculum based tests, oral classroom assignments, exhibitions, and project work. Evaluation of student progress should also be done with standardized tests which act as bench marks. The results should be interpreted in the light of community, school, family, and individual circumstances. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · The use of standardized, norm-referenced tests to assess individual student progress is inappropriate at this young age. The range of children being above or below the norm varies widely. The most meaningful approach is through continual observation. (SREB, 1994).
| 8. Teaching /learning materials , materials and equipment and technologies should be selected by the teacher from a range of authorized materials. The teacher should be accountable for the choices being made. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · Teachers should use effective grouping practices in the classroom to encourage student interaction. (NCREL.nd.) ·
*- Manipulatives, puzzles, and other learning materials should be easily accessible to students. (NCREL,n.d.) · Teachers should emphasize creativity and imagination in activities, while providing a secure daily routine.(NCREL,n.d.)
| 9. There should be ongoing, planned and sequential staff development. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · Kindergarten and primary teachers should be formally trained in child development, language acquisition age appropriate instruction and assessment. curriculum development and parental involvement. (SREB,1994)
* · Current staff should be following ongoing staff development plans and activities. (SREB, 1994)
| 10. The student should benefit from ongoing, two way communications with their teachers., that foster a climate of innovations, high expectations, cooperation and shared accountability. The school and home should ensure every child can rely on at least one trusted adult. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · Communication between parents and schools should take multiple forms. Parents should be informed about curriculum goals, including specific examples. A variety of formal ones should be used including newsletters, telephone, media, open houses, student reports, parent interviews and others. Informal communications should include prompt responses to parent calls, availability for meetings, notes to parents and calling parents directly. (SREB, 1994)
| 11. The developmental needs of children and youth, including the intellectual, social, personal, and physical, should be met each school day as much as possible. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · The National Association for the Education of Young Children (1990) has pointed out that given the nature of young children's' development "the curriculum in the early grades should emphasize informal work and play, firsthand experience, and opportunities to apply skills," Emphasis should not be on isolated skill acquisition.
| 12. There should be regular assessments, of the effectiveness of school programs, policy and external agencies services. These evaluations should use a variety of qualitative, and qualitative instructions as well as surveys of students, teachers, parents, and others. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · Assessments of early school program options should be multidimensional for the students. It should include social and behaviour expectations, sensory-motor development cognitive and language achievement and consideration of age. (Nurss,1987)
* · The National Education Goals Panel (1997) in the US has identified a number of ongoing indicators that it is trying to relation to readiness. They include prenatal care, birth weight, a child health index, immunization, family child activities, family child reading, support for families, pre-school participation, quality of open schools, and quality of home pre-school programs.
* · A focus group study done in the USA, (ReadyWeb, n.d.) highlights the concerns of parents of young children. Most were more concerned about health and physical development than cognitive and emotional development. Most turned to their own parents for advice, some went to health/social service providers. Few parents saw their pre-school educators are a source of advice on their child.
| 13. There should also be regular assessments of the conditions or determinants that affect learning; such as economic status, social support for learning in the community, parental support for learning and the accessibility and quality of family support services. |
Applied to Early Childhood Education
* · The data from the NLSCY and other sources should be made available to local communities and released at the same time as reports on academic achievement.
For more on school readiness go to
3.1.1 Kindergarten
3.1.2 Instruction
3.1.3 Curriculum / Learning Outcomes
3.1.4 Student Assessment
3.1.5 School Social Climate
3.1.6 School Physical Environment
3.1.7 Involving Parents
3.1.8 Early Prevention
3.1.9 Poverty
3.1.10 Special Needs
3.1.11 Support from School District, Ministry and Other Agencies
3.1.12 Monitoring Progress
3.3 The Role of the School Principal
Go back to the Introduction for more on home, agency and community readiness